Conformation for dummies - Part 2

Last week we talked about conformation in general and specifically, the body, the head and neck and the legs and feel.

Chest and Front End
Stand in front of your horse and measure the distance between the points of the shoulders and the elbows. If those four points make a nice, square box the horse will usually have straight legs that point forward. If the distance between the elbows is greater than that of the shoulder the horse is out at the elbows and will toe in. If the elbows are closer together than the shoulders the horse will toe out. A horse can have perfect leg conformation and still toe out or in due to the misalignment of elbows and humerus.

A horse with a narrow chest can often be base wide, a problem where the legs are farther apart at the feet than at the shoulders and forearms. Most base-wide horses are splay footed, causing the horse's feet to wing inward as he moves.

Base-narrow is often seen in horses who are exceptionally wide in the chest. They often paddle, or swing their foot outward as they move, and are often pigeon toed. A simple test to see if the front legs are indeed straight is to pick up a front leg and flex the knee completely. Bring the heel of the foot up to the forearm or elbow. If the heels go toward the inside or outside then the horse's leg is not straight.

Hindquarter Conformation
Stand behind your horse and take a good look. His legs should look straight and the feet should be directly under the stifles. From the side the rump should be long, the point of the hip should be directly over the stifle and the cannon is vertical and it's rear line directly under the point of the buttock.

The croup is the top of the rump, the rump is from the croup to the tail head. For the best performance and agility, the croup should be the same height at the withers. A vertical line dropped from the hip joint (not the point of the hip) should pass through the tibia and the middle of the hoof if the horse is standing square. The thigh, seen from the side, should form an equilateral triangle from the point of the hips, point of the buttocks and the stifle. The stifle should be the same height at the elbow. A low stifle goes hand in hand with medium-short gaskins and relatively low hocks, which give more power than higher hocks. Seen from the side, the stifle should be directly under the hip, and from the rear the stifle should be wider than the rump. The stifle and hock joints should have the same degree of angulation.

The gaskin is the group of muscles between the stifle and the hock. It should be well muscled and a little shorter than the thigh to give the hind leg good leverage and a long stride. Strong, well develop gaskins are crucial for speed, jumping and pulling.

The hock is the most complex and hardest worked joint in the body, comprising of seven bones. Performance horses need to have strong well conformed hocks to stay sound for competition. The hock is essential to propulsion and shock absorption in the hind end. Take a string and measure from the upper edge of the stifle to the point of the hock and then again from the point of the hock to the ground. These two measurements should be the same and are usually about the same length as the head.

Viewed from behind, the point of the hocks should be directly below the point of the buttocks. Viewed from the side, the hock joint should be a straight line from the hock to the back of the canon bone and to the fetlock. The canon bone should be set directly under the center of the hock. Also viewed from the side, the hock should be as large as the gaskin. The point of the hock should be level with the chestnut on the front leg, which makes the hind cannon a little longer than the front cannon.

The cannon and fetlock joint on the hind leg are very similar to that of the front leg, with the exception that the hind cannon is longer than the front. The hind pastern is generally a little shorter and more upright than the front, giving the horse more speed. The angle of the hind pastern should be about 49 to 56 degrees.

Viewed from the rear, the hind leg should be balanced and straight from buttock to hoof. Remember that the hind leg starts at the pelvis and croup, and everything below relies on good conformation above to work right. Look at the hind end from top to bottom and note symmetry and balance of croup, hips and stifles. A line dropped from the point of the buttock should pass through the center of the hock, cannon, fetlock and pastern. If your horse looks like his hocks are a little closer together than his feet, don't worry! Being slightly cow hocked is an acceptable conformation "fault". Most hoofed animals and wild equines are cow hocked, which is a much stronger construction than perfectly straight.

Overall Conformation
A good athlete will have his withers the same height as the croup; the horse's height (ground to top of withers) should be the same as his length from the point of his shoulder to the point of his buttocks. Since the horse's height and length are the same, if you exclude the head and neck his body is a perfect square.

A deep heart girth (the depth between top of withers and the bottom of the chest cavity) and well-sprung ribs (rounded rather than flat) are important to an athletic horse. They will have more staying power for a long hard job.

The distance from the fetlock joint in the front leg to the underline should be the same as the distance from the underline to the withers, meaning his heart girth is the same as his leg length.

The horse's head is a useful measuring tool, as it is equal to many important lengths. The head is usually the same length as the neck and the distance from girth to withers. It's also the same as the distance from the point of the hock to the ground and the length from the front chestnut to the ground. Other body parts that should be close to equal to the head length are from the point of the shoulder to the highest point of the withers; withers to hip bone and from the point of the stifle to the point of the croup. The distance from point of the buttock to the point of the shoulder should be roughly two and one half head lengths.

There is so much more to horse conformation than meets the eye or than is written here. But knowing just the basics is a good way to develop an idea of what is good and what is to be avoided when looking at a new horse or simply evaluating your own. Understanding basic ideas such as balance, symmetry and proportion can make the difference between purchasing a future champion or a might-have-been, or even just help you choose the best discipline for the horse you have.

Read Part I - Click here!